SMS SUMMARY: Don’t let colleagues get you down. Know your worth at work and learn how to prove yourself for future career opportunities. These ten tips can help you realize how worthy you are for that promotion.
Know your worth in the workplace because it’s the key to your success. It helps you become more driven and ambitious, making you more likely to improve performance. Self-assured women believe they are capable of managing challenging situations. And you can feel that way too.
Worthy women are confident. They’re also inclined to face their fears and embrace new goals. These people have unwavering faith in themselves and others. But not everyone is born with that kind of self-assurance.
It’s much more complicated than it seems to maintain self-confidence and know your worth. Being a woman in the modern workplace isn’t easy. Therefore, you need to dedicate your time and efforts toward building up willpower.
DID YOU KNOW: Many women devalue themselves before ever starting a job.
Table of Contents
Know Your Worth: A Beginner’s Guide
10 Steps to Know Your Worth as a Woman in the Workplace
Step 1: Attend Professional Development Training
Step 2: Learn Something Different
Step 3: Hold Yourself Accountable
Step 4: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
Step 5: Find a Mentor or Role Model
Step 7: Focus on Your Strengths
Step 8: Don’t Be Afraid to Make Mistakes
Step 9: Avoid Negative Self-Talk
Step 10: Address Your Curiosities
How to Empower Women in the Workplace
#3. Offer Equal Opportunities and Fair Wages
#4. Offer Parental Leave Policies
#5. Build Teamwork with Social Activities
#6. Recognize the Potential Challenges
Know Your Worth: A Beginner’s Guide
The most critical time to acknowledge your worth in the workplace is when you’re starting a new career. These days, standing out on the job is crucial. As the Dept. of Labor states, the national hiring rate is 3.3%. And only 5% of hiring managers believe job seekers have the skills they need to do the work.
Their uncertainties combined with yours are a recipe for disaster. You must learn how to visualize your success instead. So, begin by examining these three things about yourself:
#1. Attributes
List all the capabilities, qualities, personality traits, and beliefs you think you have. Then, ask 3-to 5 others what they see in you.
#2. Accomplishments
Jot down your achievements, no matter how big or small they seem to be. Then, look at how you used your traits to create a difference in your organization.
#3. Affirmations
Knowing your worth is not enough. You have to affirm it to yourself all the time. So, record your voice or start a journal with positive affirmations of accomplishment and future success.
These exercises should help you determine your value to a company or organization. And you’ll probably get an ego boost as well. That’s because the mind and body listen when you genuinely know your worth.
10 Steps to Know Your Worth as a Woman in the Workplace
Take control of your professional destiny. Ignore nay-sayers and negative comments, especially when they come from yourself. Then, try these ten simple steps to realize your potential and know your worth during interviews and interactions:
Step 1: Attend Professional Development Training
Gaining extra knowledge or skills can help improve your self-esteem on the job. For example, say you work in IT. Learning a new coding language can boost your performance get you noticed by the boss.
Consider taking a career growth or technical certification program. Or attend a training session to acquire upgraded leadership skills. Then study articles and presentations from the people you admire.
Step 2: Learn Something Different
Complex skillsets can give you an advantage over other colleagues. And expanding your knowledge to include extra knowledge build self-confidence on and off the job. Plus, you can apply what you learn to career objectives or personal affairs.
Try to become a lifelong learner. That way, you’ll never stop growing as a person or professional. Your extensive knowledge will prepare you to accept challenges that others might avoid.
Step 3: Hold Yourself Accountable
Turn your objectives into strategies, and then keep the accountability. But don’t forget to hold yourself responsible for the things you do and don’t do. People prefer not to get blamed for their colleagues’ mistakes. So, create a professional development plan and share your objectives with others.
Step 4: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
Your comfort zone is cozy, but it will never help you know your worth. However, stepping safely out of your routine can help you boost confidence and work performance. Plus, you’ll get noticed by administrators for your bravery and dedication.
For example, maybe giving presentations has always been a nightmare for you. This is your chance to prove everybody wrong and assert your value as a team member. Push yourself out of your comfort zone and embrace new challenges head-on. Then trust that the right people will take notice.
Step 5: Find a Mentor or Role Model
Examples of successful women can encourage you to do better or try harder for your goals. So, consider a few females that you respect. Then examine their habits, lifestyles, hobbies, and behaviors. Observe their mannerisms and note how they interact with others.
Next, apply their strategies to your career path. Mimic the traits you appreciate and ignore the ones you don’t. Then carve your way in the corporate world with inspiration and motivation from pros.
Step 6: Set Clear Goals
You can’t know your worth if you don’t know how your performance aligns with your objectives. So, set clear goals for yourself. And never expect perfection immediately. You’ll most likely have to work hard and fail a few times to succeed.
Don’t forget to celebrate the little victories along the way. Track your efforts and record the outcomes for later consideration. Then allow your path to birth new ideas. You can always reconsider and restructure your goals if they no longer work.
Step 7: Focus on Your Strengths
Focus on your strengths for a constant reminder of your worth in the workplace and beyond. And try not to concentrate on the minor mistakes you make. Look at the bigger picture instead.
Think of a time when you used your skills to solve a crucial problem. Or remember what you do daily to keep the organization afloat. You can revisit these thoughts anytime, mainly by writing them in a journal.
Step 8: Don’t Be Afraid to Make Mistakes
Mistakes are inevitable. But your self-worth is not tied to them. And when implementing new plans or strategies, you’re bound to miss the mark once or twice. Know your worth to help the disappointment roll off your back. That way, your mistakes don’t end up defining you.
Failures can influence how you apply knowledge in the next round. So, consider a woman working in IT. One day, she writes code for data entry software incorrectly. Instead of identifying her mistake and correcting it, she gets upset. Her better option would be to examine the details to determine why the error happened.
Step 9: Avoid Negative Self-Talk
Assess how many times per day you say something negative about yourself. Then compare those thoughts or words to how you want others to perceive you. Do they match? Probably not. Most people don’t say negative things about you, whether it seems that way or not.
Try to admire your unique personality traits, skills, and interests. And stop saying terrible things about yourself because other people can see it in your mannerisms. Know your worth and show it. That’s how you get ahead in the corporate world.
Step 10: Address Your Curiosities
Asking questions and finding answers can help you understand your value in the world. It can also give you inspiration, motivation, and knowledge for more prominent roles. So, make it a habit to ask questions during team meetings. And don’t be afraid to request more information on things you don’t understand.
Curiosity and a willingness to learn can demonstrate to superiors that you’re a leader. And if you do it regularly, you could become the office guru of specific topics. Meanwhile, don’t forget to discuss details with colleagues for significant insights. And take excellent notes for future reference.
How to Empower Women in the Workplace
The number of women in the workplace will increase as companies implement better DEI policies. And female professionals will still have to balance home and work responsibilities. But how can you know your worth if you’re constantly stressed? The answer is workplace empowerment for women.
Empowered women influence, inspire, and intrigue. They also help other women boost their careers, starting a chain reaction that permeates many industries. By investing and training female professionals, companies secure women’s contributions and support career advancement. Thus, the best approaches involve equity initiatives, education scholarships, leadership training, and these simple tactics:
#1. Amplify the Female Voice
Giving women a louder voice is the best way to understand their unique needs in the workplace. Companies should support female employees with non-judgemental programs, forums, and activities. Equitable businesses also need to provide advancement, socialization options, and public speaking opportunities. So, here are some clever ideas:
- Community DEI Events
- Company-Sponsored Advocacy
- Social Media Representation
- Board Membership
- Achievement Awards
- Recognition Programs
- Career Advancement Courses
- Education Assistance
Socially responsible organizations will define professional standards and conduct monthly evaluations. And if your company is not, this might be your chance to become their voice of reason.
#2. Improve Gender Diversity
Growth doesn’t happen overnight. So, nobody expects businesses to restructure their executives immediately. However, DEI-compliant companies should create opportunities through branch expansions, developmental roles, or creative subcontracting.
Begin by observing operations, functionality, and diversity. Then solicit recommendations for changes or adjustments. After that, teams can decipher requests and build programs to implement them. Together, businesses can enhance gender diversity without disrupting the flow.
Your role could involve informing other teammates about upcoming changes, events, or goals. And your involvement might create exciting opportunities for advancement or advocacy across several industries.
#3. Offer Equal Opportunities and Fair Wages
The debate over the gender pay gap is significant because it demonstrates the disparities in modern workplaces. And it’s challenging to know your worth when you earn less than someone else who does the same job. So, companies should close the gap with fair wages and equal opportunities for all genders.
#4. Offer Parental Leave Policies
All organizations with female members should offer complimentary family services. Equitable job amenities include child care, paid time off, and family leave of absence policies. With those measures, working mothers are expected to do too much for the company’s sake.
#5. Build Teamwork with Social Activities
Plan events outside the office and invite the women to participate. However, try not to exclude the men in everything because they can use the events as opportunities to learn. Ensure everyone has access to the schedule and input on what you plan. But organize activities that help empower the women on staff and in the community.
#6. Recognize the Potential Challenges
Despite the efforts, the barriers will never cease. Meanwhile, research shows that many women face tremendous obstacles when advancing in their careers. Recent polls also demonstrate how female employees are impacted by their personal lives. However, less than half of those surveyed said they felt like their workplace was doing enough to support them.
Additionally, nearly 31% of women in the workplace say they fear losing promotions because of their gender, sexuality, or ethnic background. And only about 27% of them earned a raise or promotion despite their qualifications.
Hiring companies should ensure equitable advocacy and opportunity for all employees. And identifying physical characteristics should not determine their position on the team. Merit, capability, and skill are the only things that actually matter. So, start implementing the necessary changes immediately.
Conclusion
Know your worth in the workplace. Step through the gender barriers and climb to the top of the ladder in your dream job. But don’t forget to build your skills and confidence along the way. The corporate world is full of sharks, and they come in all shapes and sizes.
Motivate yourself with thoughts of the bigger picture. Then help pave the way for future generations of women with comprehensive DEI programs. And for more help, consult your lead executives.
About the Author
Sibongile Ngako is a Harvard-educated corporate fintech and compliance executive leveraging her expertise and background to help empower women professionally, personally, and financially.
